i'm an educator, i'm here to educate our kids. >> reporter: critics, including some top china experts and also some conservatives in congress worry that what begins as a simple language program could end up as a stealth pr campaign for a communist government with a terrible human rights record. >> you don't want other countries propagandizing your children. >> reporter: we sent our beijing correspondent, abc's gloria riviera, to the headquarters of the confucius institute to get a response but she was turned away. the confucius institute has many prominent defenders including school officials in major cities like chicago, the college board and even the u.s. state department but here in make con a small group of parents have become vocal critics. mandarin chinese is the number one language on the planet right now, so isn't it useful onom levels to teach children this language? >> i don't have a problem with the language itself, it's the way that it's being presented by the institute that leaves questions. >> reporter: a heated debate and say, a dilemma. a program that presents children